PaddleHeads Season Comes To End With Loss Friday
Range Riders Punch Ticket To Pioneer League Championship
MISSOULA, MT - The Missoula PaddleHeads squared off with the Glacier Range Riders Friday night in Game 2 of the 1st Round Pioneer League Playoffs. After losing game 1 on the road, Missoula needed a win on their home field to keep their season alive. Glacier would have other ideas in search of a birth into the Pioneer League Championship Series. Thanks to an unwavering offense, Glacier would be the team with the advantage throughout.
A 2-out 3-run home run in the top of the second inning would prove to a precursor Friday for an offense that tallied 17 hits on the night. The home run from Ryan McCarthy in the 2nd would give Glacier a 5-0 lead. The offense would just keep on coming from that point as Glacier tallied 9 extra base hits as a team.
The end result would be a 17-3 victory as the Range Riders advanced to the Pioneer League Championship, their first appearance in franchise history. Despite the tough loss, the PaddleHeads surely had a lot of highlights throughout the season.
Missoula entered the 2024 campaign with questions surrounding the outfield position with veterans from years past like Keaton Greenwalk, and Jared Akins having moved on. That area of question proved to be a strength by year's end with the trio of Adam Fogel, Alec Sanchez, and Mike Rosario coming to the forefront. Not only would they fill the void, but they would prove to form the best outfield trio in the league.
Rosario would finish 2nd in the league in batting average pacing an offense that led the league in every category imaginable during the regular season. Sanchez would also tally 20 home runs in his rookie season. The highlight would prove to be 'McLovin'.
Fogel had a truly spectacular season that should never be forgotten in the Garden City. The left fielder would go on to tally a league record 35 home runs while batting .388 a league best. No player that has come before him in PaddleHeads history has come close to matching this effort. To say it was a pleasure to watch him take the field day in and day out would be an understatement.
This ballclub also featured stories that go beyond the diamond. Patrick Chung was an unproven infielder just looking for a place on a roster when initially appearing in the league in 2022. He was released by the Idaho Falls Chukars that season before joining the PaddleHeads in hopes of just being able to contribute off the bench. But with hard work, Chung would eclipse that role and then some.
Fast forward to 2024, Chung was viewed as the arguably the most feared leadoff batter in the league with a dangerous combination of speed, average, and power. Not only did Chung finish 3rd in the league in average, he would also tally the 2nd most doubles (32) in league history trailing only 2022 PaddleHead Nick Gatewood.
The Range Riders clearly came into this series with a plan fixated around timely hitting and outstanding starting pitching. The driving force of the offense would prove to be left fielder Chad Castillo who tallied 4 doubles, a home run, and 4 RBIs in the 2 combined games. Castillo would finish 3-for-5 in Friday's win.
After Patrick Wicklander's gem Tuesday in 7 innings, Cooper Benson would also turn in a fabulous performance in Game 2 for Glacier. The Southpaw would allow just 2 hits over 6 innings while striking out 6. The PaddleHeads offense would not find any success until the late innings Friday as a result after the game was far out of reach. The loss brought the 2024 season to a close in sour fashion, but that will not take away from the memories made in a special season.
This truly was a special group of individuals off the field. The end result is surely not like how things played out when Chris Burrica blew a high fastball past a Boise Hawk for a league championship in 2021. But the stories of this team will not be forgotten. Whether it was walk-off singles from Colin Runge, or home runs 'swimming with the cutthroats' 2024 provided countless memories for the Garden City.
In the game that is life, sometimes things on the field don't play out in the way you hope. But results on the field feel less meaningful when you can take pride in being a part of something special. The Missoula PaddleHeads is a family, not a baseball team. It truly has been a pleasure to be with this group for every turn throughout the last 4 seasons. You never know what may be in store for the future. But one thing rings true on a Friday night, the PaddleHeads family is a special group to be a part of regardless of the final result on the field.
